Mad Max (1979)

Taking place in a dystopian Australia in the near future, Mad Max tells the story of a highway patrolman cruising the squalid back roads that have become the breeding ground of criminals foraging for gasoline and scraps. When his wife and child meet a grisly end at the hands of a motorcycle gang, Max sets out across the barren wastelands in search of revenge.

Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller, produced by Byron Kennedy, and starring Mel Gibson as “Mad” Max Rockatansky, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, and Roger Ward. James McCausland and Miller wrote the screenplay from a story by Miller and Kennedy. The film presents a tale of societal collapse, murder, and vengeance set in a post-apocalyptic Australia, in which a vengeful policeman becomes embroiled in a feud with a vicious motorcycle gang. Principal photography took place in and around Melbourne, Australia, and lasted six weeks.

The film initially received a polarized reception upon its release in April 1979, although it won three AACTA Awards and attracted a cult following, while its critical reputation has grown since. The film earned over $100 million worldwide in gross revenue. It held the Guinness record for most profitable film from 1980-1999 and has been credited for further opening up the global market to Australian New Wave films. The film became the first in a series, spawning the sequels The Road Warrior (1981), Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Fury Road (2015).